A Rose by Any Other Name
by BabyLezzie
Summary: Sequel to What's in a Name?. PostRent. Joanne POV. MoJo w kids! Rated M to be safe. CHAPTER NINE UP NOW.
1. Chapter 1

**hey guys! i finally got the sequel to what's in a name typed up! well, chapter one at least. i hope you guys like it, it gets kinda graphic, but not too graphic, but i made it M anyways just to be safe. **

**fyi, i don't own maureen, joanne, or their parents, but i do own G-KIM. that's how i refer to grace, kelly, isabelle(sissy), and madison(maddie/maddy). enjoy it, and don't forget to review!**

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"Pookieeeeeeee, it's too early to get up. Make her go away," Maureen whined. She had her face buried in my shoulder and her arms wrapped around my waist in an attempt to hide from our 4-year old daughter Grace, who was jumping up and down on our bed.

"Mommy, get up! You promised you'd take me shopping today for ballet!" she said as she landed on top of us. Maureen groaned. "Momma, make her get up!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "Honeybear, you gotta get up. You told Gracie you'd take her shopping, and you don't want to disappoint her, do you?" I tried to remover her arms from around my waist, but she hung on for dear life. At that precise moment I heard crying come through the baby monitor next to my side of the bed, which only made Maureen bury her face deeper into my shoulder.

"Remind me again why I wanted kids so badly," she mumbled into my shoulder.

"Honeybear, I gotta get up. I suggest you get up too, because you know that Grace isn't going to leave you alone until you do and you can blame yourself for passing that trait onto her." She let go of me so that I could get out of bed because she knew that if I didn't go see who was crying then she would have to.

As I walked down the hall I stopped at Kelly's room to check on her. It was amazing how she had gotten almost all of Maureen's genes when I was the one who had been pregnant with her for nine months. She had wavy light brown hair and had somehow ended up with really pale skin, but like Grace she had my nose and eyes. It was hard to believe that she was 2 already- I still couldn't believe that Grace was 4.

I moved down to the next room where Isabelle and Madison, our 6 month old twins, slept. By the time I got there Isabelle had woken Maddie up so I now had two crying babies to deal with. Then again, that was better than having to deal with Grace when she wanted to go shopping. That girl was just like Maureen, I swear. As I stepped into the hallways with Isabelle I almost got run over by Grace, who was dragging Maureen behind her, who was attempting to get her shoes on.

"Don't forget that my parents are going to be here at 12 to pick up the girls," I said to Maureen as Grace unlocked the door.

"How could you even think I would forget about that, Pookie? It's the first time we've gotten to be alone for more than two hours in the past six months!" she said to me as she got pulled out the door. I laughed as the door shut and took Isabelle into the kitchen to get her a bottle.

Four hours later Maddie and Izzy were asleep in their carriers and Grace and Kelly were on the couch watching TV. I stood against the wall at the end of the hallways just watching them. As I stood there I heard Maureen come out of the twin's room and set their bags on the floor before wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her chin on my shoulder.

"Pookie, they're beautiful," she said as she kissed my cheek. "Just like you."

"No, Honeybear, they're beautiful like _you_." I turned my head around so that I could kiss her.

"But Pookie, they have your cute little nose. Nothing can beat that." She poked my nose which caused me to giggle. She then kissed me and I returned that kiss, until we were interrupted by a certain 4 year old.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! They're _kissing_!" I opened my eyes and saw Grace standing on the couch, watching us. She did this every time she caught us kissing because she was such a drama queen, just like Maureen, well, except for the fact that Maureen enjoyed these kisses. "You guys need to get a room!"

"What?" I asked her, although it was more towards Maureen than to Grace.

"Hey, she didn't hear that from me." Maureen shrugged her shoulders and kissed my cheek again before removing her arms from around my waist. "We'll finish this later," she whispered seductively into my ear.

"Stop kissing!" Grace said, although this time both her and Kelly were giggling.

"Oh, grow up you two," Maureen said as she picked up the diaper bags and walked over to the door, but not without slapping my ass first. As she set the bags on the couch next to Grace there was a knock at the door.

"YAY! Gramma and Grampa are here!" Grace shrieked as both her and Kelly jumped off of the couch and ran for the door. Maureen was able to grab both of them and hold them back while I went to answer the door, although the second it was open they broke away from Maureen and ambushed my parents.

"Gramma! Grampa!"

I stood there holding the door open while they got hugs and kissed from each of my parents. As my mom put Kelly down I saw her frown at the shirt I had dressed her in.

"Joanne, does she _have_ to wear that shirt?" she said, referring to the 'I Love my Mommies' shirt that Kelly had on.

"Sorry, but that was the only clean shirt that she had." I smiled to myself, knowing that she'd be pissed when she saw that the only clothes I had packed for the twins were the matching body suits. Sure, she may love the kids to death, but she still didn't like or accept the fact that her only daughter was married to another woman, which to this stay caused Maureen to stay hidden as much as possible when my mother was around because she could get a little mouthy about everything that she thought was wrong with her.

"Here's the stuff for Izzy and Maddie, and Grace and Kelly have their backpacks," I told my mother as I handed her the two diaper bags. "We'll be here all weekend, so just call us if you need anything."

"Well I'm sure that we'll be fine." My mother eyed Maureen as she hugged Grace and Kelly goodbye, and I could tell that she knew what our weekend would entail. I bent down and kissed Izzy and Maddie before handing them over to my parents. I picked up Grace and Kelly and gave them each a kiss on the head before watching them head out the door with my parents.

I shut the door and had barely turned around before Maureen had me pinned against it. She pressed her lips against mine as I slid my hands up the back of her shirt. I felt her slide her hands down the back of my jeans and stop as she cupped her hands around my ass. I pushed off of the wall and walked her over to the couch without breaking the kiss, except for when I pulled her shirt over her head. She slid her hands around to the front of my jeans and unbuttoned them. After she had pulled them off I grabbed the waistband of her shorts and slid them down. She pulled my shirt off as I reached around her back and unbuttoned her bra. I moved my lips from her mouth and down her neck stopping at her chest. She let out a small moan as I traced my tongue around each of her nipples. I kissed my down her stomach and was about to move further when she flipped me over and straddled me.

"Someone's feeling dominant today."

"What? Do you have a problem with that?" she asked me in between sucking on each of my nipples.

"mmmm…" I moaned in reply. "No." She planted kisses on my stomach as she made her way down to the inside of my thighs. I grabbed her curls and pulled her mouth up to my clit. Right as she began to lick it there was a knock at the door.

"Fuck." I pushed her off of me and jumped off of the couch, grabbing the firs thing I saw and put it one. Maureen grabbed the remaining clothes and ran back to our bedroom.

I ran to the door and was shocked as I saw who was standing there when I opened it.

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**did you guys like it? i know you all are dying to know who is at the door, so i'll get chapter 2 up ASAIC!(as soon as i can). please please please review and let me know what you think! **

**x.x Lo**


	2. Chapter 2

**omg! i got chapter 2 up, like, a day after chapter 1! oh yea go lauren go lauren. ok i'm done. so yea, here's chapter 2, i hope you guys like it, and don't forget to review!**

**i obviously do not own maureen, joanne, or their parents, but i do own KAGIM(i had to add in alexa because i forgot her, and she's mentioned in this chapter) and mr. buttons. **

**enjoy!**

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"Uh, hi, mom. Hi, Kelly." My mother looked at me and I don't think there are any words that could describe the look on her face as she took in my appearance. I was wearing Maureen's shorts inside out and her t-shirt, the latter being backwards. "What are you two doing back so soon?"

"Kelly forgot Mr. Buttons, so we had to come back to get him." Mr. Buttons was the stuffed dolphin that Mark and Jess had given Kelly when the twins were born. Nobody knew where she had gotten the name from, but it was obvious how attached she was to him.

"Ok," I said to Kelly as she ran back to her room, "but hurry up. You don't want to make Gramma and Grampa lose time to be with you and your sisters."

As we waited for Kelly to get Mr. Buttons, my mom looked at me and what I was now wearing. "So where's Maureen?"

"She went back to the bedroom to get something."

"I see. So do you two always trade clothes like this?"

"Only when we're alone."

"I see."

We both stood with our arms crossed over our chests while we waited, neither of us saying anything.

"Momma, where's Mommy?" Kelly asked me as she came around the corner, clutching Mr. Buttons to her chest.

"She's in the shower, honey."

"Oh. So why are you wearing her clothes?"

"I, uh, spilled something on mine and she gave me hers since she was getting into the shower."

"Oh, ok."

I bent down and kissed her before letting her go back with my mom. "Be good for Gramma and Grampa, ok?"

"Ok. I love you, Momma."

"I love you too, KellBell."

After they were gone and I had shut the door behind them, I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. "Maureen, it's ok to come out now."

"But I thought I did that already," she said as she walked down the hall, out of our room. She was now dressed in a different outfit and had pulled her hair back into a braid. "Do you want to continue where we left off, or did that completely ruin the mood for you too?"

"Yea, it kind of ruined it for me, too," I said as I patted the empty spot on the couch next to me. "But I'm still up for some cuddling."

Maureen seemed to like that idea. She walked over and plopped herself down in the spot next to me and then wrapped her arms around my waist. Looking up at me she said, "Pookie, I love you."

"I love you too Honeybear," I said as I kissed her forehead and smiled at her before wrapping my arms around her waist. We sat there in silence and watched TV just holding each other, the silence between us comforting. It was about an hour later while watching a show on home redecorating that I broke our silence.

"Hey Mo, remember how we were thinking that the twins should have their own rooms soon?"

"Yea."

"Well, I was thinking about how we only have 3 rooms, and I don't think that it would be fair to move Kelly and Grace into the same room."

"So you want to move into a bigger apartment? I've been thinking about that, too, but we've only been here a little over two years and we haven't even really settled in yet."

"I know, but I was thinking that it might be a good idea to move before the girls get too much older, especially Grace since she's starting kindergarten next year. I don't think it would be fair to her to have her start at one school and then switch when we move, or have to adjust to a new house in the middle of the school year if we put her in a private school."

"Ok, well I guess that sounds like a good idea. But where are we going to find a bigger apartment? The only thing that I can think of is a penthouse, and we can't afford one of those here in the city, at least not with me being a stay at home mom right now."

"I know," I said as I situated myself so that I was now sitting up facing her. "Actually, Honeybear, I was thinking that we could maybe move into a house. I've never actually lived in one, and I think it would be good for the girls to live in a house and not an apartment."

"A house? Joey, you do realize that there are practically no houses in the city, right?"

"I know, that's why I was thinking that maybe we could move out of the city, but not too far, so that I'd still be able to work in the city. It'd be nice to get out of the city, and just think about it- in a house we could have our bedroom on a different floor from the girls' rooms. Think about what _that_ might be like." I raised my eyebrows and let my lips curl into a smile.

Maureen bit her lip and thought about it for a minute. "We-ll, which would be nice. But seriously, Pookie, is that all you ever think about?"

"What?" I said, pretending to be surprised as I playfully pushed her away from me. "I am appalled that you would even think such a thing!"

"But you know it's true," she said as she propped herself up on her elbows behind her back, smirking at me.

"Ok, that does it." I lunged forward and began tickling her. She absolutely _hated _being tickled.

"Pookie, stop it!" she gasped in between fits of laughter. "I mean it!"

"Only if you promise to never again accuse me of only ever thinking about sex," I said. With an evil smile on my face I added, "even if it is true."

"Ok, ok, I promise! Just get off of me!" she said as she unsuccessfully tried to tickle me back.

"Get off of you? I don't think I've heard that one before."

"You know what I mean, Pookie! Just stop tickling me!"

"Ok, but first you have to promise one more thing."

"What?" She was letting up on trying to escape as I let up on the tickling.

"Promise me that no matter what happens or what I do, you will always love me." I stopped tickling her and she stopped trying to escape.

"Pookie! You know that I will always love you, no matter what happens. Just look at everything we've been through; how many couples, gay or straight, do you know that broke up at their engagement party, swore that they would never talk to each other again, ended up getting married, and after seven years of marriage have four beautiful children, well five if you count Alexa, and couldn't be any happier?"

"I know, Honeybear. I just wanted to hear you say it before I tell you something that you need to know."

"Ok. What do you need to tell me?"

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**sorry about the cliffhanger, but i had to! i couldn't resist! i hope you guys liked it, and please please please, don't forget to review! i live off of reviews and mountain dew! the more reviews i get the more prone i am to getting chapter 3 up sooner! although i should warn you, chapter 3 is kinda short and i haven't finished 4 yet, but i have started 5 or 6(i haven't decided which it should be yet). i think i'll rewrite chapter 4 today once i'm done with my long author's note. i'm going to shut up now, check my mail to see if i got new reviews, check myspace, and then get off the comp and go write!**

**don't forget to review!**

x.x Lo


	3. Chapter 3

**so here's chapter 3. wow. i think it's a sign of the apocalypse or something. two chapters in one day, three in one weekend. it's kinda short, but now i don't have to worry about typing anything else up for now and i can finish 4.i'll start working on four again after cold case is over because for some reason it's on at 9 tonight... oh well. i hope you guys like it! don't forget to review!**

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"I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?" Maureen shot up, knocking me back a little. "How can you be pregnant? I just had the twins six months ago!"

"I know, Mo, trust me. You broke my hand, remember?"

She smiled and took my right hand (the one she broke) in hers. "Well, Pookie, I guess this could be exciting. But why didn't you just tell me you wanted to have another baby? It would have been nice if you would've let me know before you made such a big decision like this."

"I thought it would be a nice surprise for you," I said as I kissed her forehead, "for your birthday on Tuesday."

"Awww, Pookie. I love you." She pulled me into a passionate kiss. "I think we could both use a shower after all of this excitement."

"You read my mind."

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**wow so i just realized how short this is. sorry guys, but i figured you'd want to know what joanne had to say, otherwise i would've just put it in with chapter four. but four is pretty funny, at least what's written now. i'm gonna shut up now, go watch cold case, and then work on four.**

**if i get more comments when i check during the commercials i might make chapter four even better tonight when i'm working on it.**

**review please!**

**x.x Lo**


	4. Chapter 4

**so here's chapter 4! i'm home until thursday this week so hopefully i'll be able to get some more typed up, but i have to do a _lot _of cleaning before we leave for new york/massachusetts on friday or else my mom won't let me go to the wicked bts tour on saturday morning, plus if i finish i get money so i can buy crap! oh and then we're going to the lizzie borden b&b in mass so if i suddenly disappear blame lizzie. lol. so anyways back to what i was going to say about chapter four. personally, i think it rocks just like the rest of my stories do, but i want to know what you guys think when you're done reading it! i'm still debating over whether or not it's too short, but it's definitely longer than chapter three. when i finish my long-ass pointless author's note i'm going to go type up chapter 5, so i'll shut up now. i hope you guys like it, and REVIEW, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! thanks.**

**x.x Lo**

**disclaimer: i do not own Mo, Jo, or Mark, but i do own Alexa, Amanda, Shontay, and Jess.**

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"Come one, Maureen. You gotta get up. We're going to look at houses today, remember?" It was two weeks after Maureen and I had discussed moving, and since I was pregnant we had decided that we should move as soon as we could. "Maureen, I'm serious. We're meeting with the realtor at 2 and it's already 11:30. If you don't get up I'm going to have to tickle you."

"Pookie, I hate you," she said as she buried her head under her pillow.

"Oh come on, you can't be _that_ tired. We went to bed at 11 so you've had at least 10 hours of sleep."

"No, I hate you because you're pregnant."

"Huh? I thought you were excited about me being pregnant? It's too early for you to be confusing me." You could always count on Maureen to confuse me.

"Just go get me some fucking Midol."

"Ohhhhh, I get it now. Haha. You still have to suffer through your period and I don't." Keeping her head buried under her over-sized pillow she mumbled a barely audible "shut-up". "Ok, ok," I said to her. "I'll go get you some Midol." After I was safely off the bed I added, "But it's been so long since I've needed it, so hopefully I'll remember where it is." This time I got my pillow thrown at me, but I just caught it and threw it back.

A few minutes later I returned with the Midol, a bottle of water, and a heat pack. I tossed them onto the bed next to her and told her I'd be back in an hour and that she was going to be getting up, cramps or not. "Thank-you, Pookie," she mumbled from underneath her pillow as I saw her hand reach out from under the blanket and feel around for her comfort items I had brought for her.

I went to the kitchen to get my laptop out and took it to the living room where I sat down and laid back on the couch to relax. I had just finished checking my mail when the phone next to the couch rang. I looked at the caller ID, and recognizing the number, decided to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Joanne? It's Jess. Sorry that this is such short notice, but could you and Mo watch Shontay today? Mark's sick and I have to go into work for a few hours." Shontay was Mark and Jess's 7-year old daughter that they had adopted from Detroit about a year ago. Jess was a manager at Hooter's and didn't have the time or patience to be pregnant, and both had figured out from the time that Grace was born that they couldn't handle a child under the age of five, so adoption was perfect for them. Shontay was the sweetest little girl in the world, and just loved living in New York, especially since Maureen and I took her to go see musicals with the girls all the time. She loved to sing and dance and every time she was over at our house she would perform some new dance number she had learned in her dance classes for us. She spent so much time over at our house that she referred to us as her second parents and our girls referred to Mark and Jess their second parents. It was great how Maureen had been able to stay friends with Mark all these years, and even greater now that we lived so close and our kids were able to get just as close as we had been before them.

"Look, Jess, I'm sorry, but Maureen and I are going out to Syosset today to look at houses and the girls are with Mo's parents this weekend, but you should try calling Alexa and Amanda. Cynthia's over at their apartment right now working on the dresses for the wedding, and they still need Shontay's measurements for her bridesmaid dress, and I'm sure Lex and Mandy wouldn't mind watching her. I'm really sorry, but I have to go now. Maureen's finally ready and if we don't leave now we're gonna be late for an open house we're meeting our realtor at."

"Okay, I guess that will work. I hope you guys find something today. Bye!" She hung up and I put the phone down on the coffee table as Maureen unlocked the door. I shut off my laptop and grabbed my purse off the end of the couch before standing up and following Maureen out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**here's chapter 5! it was actually a lot longer, but i'm lazy so i didn't want to type it all up. yea i know. i'm mean. but it also didn't really fit, so it's not crucial. i'll put it up as chapter 6 later. i hope you guys like this one!**

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"Maureen, hurry up or we're gonna be late! We still have to drop Kelly and the twins off at Roger and Mimi's before we take Grace to school!" I yelled to our bathroom door as I finished dressing the twins. I set them in their playpen that we kept in our room and then walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Maureen, hurry up, I have to pee, too!" As soon as I said that I decided that I couldn't wait any longer, so I opened the door and walked into the bathroom.

"Hi, Pookie!" Maureen greeted me from the toilet. "I'll be ready in a minute."

"That's just wonderful," I said as I pushed her off of the toilet and sat down.

"Pookie, what's wrong? You sound mad."

"I'm sorry, but when I have to pee you know I can't wait."

"Yea, but at least be glad that you don't have morning sickness." She walked over to the sink and began brushing her teeth. "Having an overactive bladder is nothing compared to puking your guts out every morning."

I flushed the toilet and walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. "You better hurry up; we don't want Gracie to be late for her first day of kindergarten." I kissed her on the cheek before walking back into our room. I picked up the twins from their playpen and stopped at the door before going to get Grace and Kelly. "I'm gonna get everyone into the car, hurry up because we need to leave in a few minutes."

"Wait, Pookie," Maureen said as she came out of the bathroom. She picked up a hair band off of her dresser and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "I forgot to tell you- Mimi called this morning while you were in the shower. She had to take Roger to the hospital this morning- I think she said pneumonia or something- and they can't watch the girls, so I called Stacy and she said to just call her right before we leave and she'll come over. Want me to call her now?"

"Sure. I'll take the twins to the play room and make sure that Grace is ready to go so we can leave as soon as Stacy gets here." I balanced a twin on each hip as I walked down the hall to the open space that we had made the play room. Although all of the girl's rooms were on the third floor, Maureen and I wanted a place for them to be able to play and watch TV on the same floor as our room and my office. I put both of the twins down on the carpet and walked over to turn off the TV. I turned around and looked over at Grace and Kelly who were playing with the Barbie house that my parents had given Grace for starting kindergarten. "Grace, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, momma." She put down the Barbie she had been playing with and kissed Kelly on the head before skipping over to me. She was such a perfect big sister. As she bent down to kiss the twins the doorbell rang. "Maureen, can you get that? It's probably Stacy."

Grace ran upstairs to her room to get her backpack while I watched the twins crawl over to Kelly. Just as Grace was coming back from the third floor Maureen and Stacy came into the room. I thanked her for coming on such short notice before I walked downstairs and into the garage with Grace and Maureen.

When we walked into Grace's kindergarten classroom I wasn't surprised to see that all of the other kids were being dropped off by their mothers and fathers. We had tried to explain to Grace that most kids had a mom and a dad, not a momma and a mommy, but I don't think that she really understood what we had been trying to tell her. As far as I knew, Grace was the only one in her class with lesbian parents. There was a couple from our parenting group, Michelle and Sophia, who had a set of twins that were the same age as Grace, but they had a late birthday so they were downstairs in the 4-year old class. Connor and Lorraine were two of the cutest kids I had ever seen, and our girls were like sisters to them. As I went back to watch Grace play with a puzzle I noticed that she was being approached by a woman whom I assumed was one of the teacher's aides.

"Hi, I'm Miss Jenna, what's your name?" she asked as she bent down to be on Grace's level.

"I'm Grace," she said.

"Well, Grace, why don't you go join some of the other kids who are over there playing house?" She pointed over to where a group of kids were playing.

"My sisters and I just moved here from the city and I don't know anyone yet." She looked back down at her puzzle.

"Really? Well, how old are your sisters?" Jenna asked as she sat on the floor next to Grace.

"Well, Kelly just turned three last week and she's my bestest friend. And then Maddie and Sissy are 11 months old. They're identical twins. Maddie's real name is Madison, and Sissy's real name is Isabelle, but Kelly couldn't say that when they were born so she started calling her Sassy, but Mommy told us to just call her Sissy." She turned back to the puzzle that she had been putting together. Jenna opened her mouth and was about to say something, but Grace turned back to her and started talking again. "And then in four months I'm gonna have another little sister because Momma's pregnant again. I know what they're going to name her because I got to help pick out the name, but I'm not allowed to tell anyone yet, not even Kelly."

Jenna looked shocked, like she hadn't heard anything like that before. Not that I expected her to have, but it's always funny to see how different people react to Grace's description of her family. She never mentions that Momma and Mommy are two different people; she just assumes that everybody knows that already. After Jenna had recovered from her shock she spoke. "Is your mommy here right now?"

"Uh-huh." Grace nodded as she pointed in the general direction of where Maureen was standing. "She's right over there."

"Ok. I think I'll let you get back to your puzzle and go say hi to your mommy."

"Ok. It was nice meeting you." Grace was so polite, a trait that had obviously not come from Maureen or I.

I was the only pregnant mother in the room who was showing, so Jenna automatically came to me and not Maureen.

"Hi, I'm Jenna Miller, one of Mrs.Kell's aides," she said as she held out her hand. "Are you Grace's mother?"

"Yes, I am." I reached out and shook her hand. "Joanne Jefferson, or as Grace calls me, Momma."

"It's very nice to meet you. Grace was just telling me about all of her sisters and how you're having another baby in a few months. That must be hard; four girls already and a baby on the way. How does your husband survive with so many girls in the house?"

"Actually, it's not that hard to manage four kids when you have a schedule, plus it's worth it. And I don't have a husband, so that's never been an issue." I loved confusing people.

"No husband? Wow, you must be super mom or something. Is it hard being a single mom?"

"I wouldn't know because I'm not a single mom." I tried to give her a stare, but it was just too funny confusing her. "Can you hold on a second?" I looked over to where Maureen was standing, talking to one of the other mothers. "Hey Mo, can you come here for a minute?" Maureen looked at me and nodded and then said a few things to the woman she had been talking to before coming over to where Jenna and I were standing. I wrapped my arm around her waist before looking at Jenna. "Jenna, this is my wife, Maureen. Maureen, this is Jenna Miller, she's one of Mrs.Kell's aides."

"Maureen Johnson. I'm Grace's Mommy," she said as she held out her hand for Jenna to shake.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, taking Maureen's hand and shaking it. "Well, class is about to start and I have to go help Mrs.Kell get a few more things ready." She quickly turned around and walked away from us.

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**don't forget to review! please? i'll love you forever if you do!**


	6. Chapter 6

**hey guys! sorry it's been so long, but my life has been so crazy with school and marching band. here's chapter 6, sorry it's kinda short, but i promise chapter 7 is going to be longer. as in 3 times more handwritten pages longer. as in, this one was a little over 5 handwritten pages and chapter 7 is about 14 handwritten pages. so i'm going to try to type it up today, but i have to vacuum the dining room before my mom gets home. so yea. i hope you guys like it! and don't forget to review! oh yea, the name that comes up later is pronounced "Rocks-ahn-ah"**

"Maureen, I think my water broke," I said as I shook her, trying to get her to wake up. "Maureen, I'M HAVING THE FUCKING BABY!" I yelled at her.

"Huh?" Maureen mumbled, barely awake. "Baby? But you're not due for two more months. Go back to sleep."

"Maureen! I'm having the baby _now_, whether I'm due in two months or two days!" I got no response from her, so I had to do it. I pushed her off of the bed.

"FUCK, Joanne!"

"Be quiet, you're gonna wake up the girls," I said as I climbed out of the bed. "Get some of my stuff, I need to call the doctor and tell him I'm going to the hospital and then I have to call Stacy and tell her we need her to come watch the girls." Maureen had walked into the closet by the time I was done and returned a few minutes later dressed and carrying a duffel bag. She threw some sweats and a t-shirt at me which I pulled on over the underwear and cami I had been sleeping in.

"Stacy's gonna be here in 2 minutes." I picked up the bag and began to walk down the stairs. By the time I got to the bottom I considered calling an ambulance because the contractions were bad, plus I felt dizzy and was having a lot of cramping. Everything after the point where I let Stacy in was all a blur. Maureen was able to check me in without causing a scene and I was immediately rushed back to a room. I could barely tell what was going on because I was constantly dozing in and out of consciousness.

"Joanne, Pookie, Baby," Maureen shook me as she spoke. "The doctor says he needs to do a c-section. Her heart rate is dropping and they need to get her out _now_. I know how much you don't want to have one, but it's important for both of you that they get her out as soon as possible." I looked up into her big, round, brown eyes and saw a tear slide down her cheek. She was really scared, and I had no clue what was happening. I nodded my head, and then saw her turn to the doctor and say something that I couldn't understand because I was dozing out again.

I must have slept through the whole operation because when I opened my eyes I saw sunlight coming through my window. I rolled over and found Maureen asleep on a cot next to my bed.

"Good morning, Honeybear," I whispered weakly.

She opened her eyes and, seeing that I was awake, sat up and leaned over to kiss me.

"Oh Joey," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. She kissed me on the forehead before sitting down in the chair that was next to my bed. "How are you feeling? We've been so worried about you all night. They've been running tests on both you and Roxie, but they can't figure out what's wrong." Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked like she had been up all night crying. I was so out of it from the anesthesia that they must've given me during the section that I completely forgot about the baby, who we had decided to name Roxana Rose about a month ago.

"How is she? What did the doctors say?" I was suddenly alert when I realized that there might be something wrong with her. I was starting to worry that she might not make it.

"They moved her to the NICU immediately after the delivery. She has a doctor assigned specifically to her and there's at least one nurse watching her around the clock. She's having problems breathing and they had to put her in an incubator because she can't control her body temperature, but she's about as stable as we could expect her to be." She squeezed my left hand in hope of reassuring me.

"Can I see her?"

"The doctor doesn't want you to yet because he wants you to rest and stay in bed for a few days. But after they got her stabilized enough, I was able to go in and see her, so I took some pictures for you." She picked up some Polaroid's that were on the table next to my bed and handed them to me. "Here's our daughter, Roxana Rose," she said as she smiled at me.

I held the pictures in my hands, and although it was hard to see through the incubators and oxygen mask, I could tell that she was going to be beautiful, just like her Mommy and her sisters.

**was it good? personally, i think it was, but i wanna know what you guys think. the more reviews i get the faster chapter 7 will be up!**


	7. Chapter 7

**you guys better be pretty fucking proud of me for getting this all typed up today(thanks to the fact that today is election day here in murr-a-lend). but i do have one thing to say that slighty irks me: the lack of comments. i write this story for myself and my friends, but the only reason i type it up and fight with to get it up here is for you guys, so when i don't get comments i assume that you guys either aren't reading it anymore or don't like it, which makes me feel like it's pointless to update. now, i know something was wrong with leaving comments a few days ago because some people sent me messages with their reviews, but i still only got three comments and i want to know what you guys think. i'm not that much far ahead in writing right now; i'm still writing chapter 8, so anything you guys say in comments for this chapter will be taken into consideration for the next chapter. oh yea, no matter what you guys say, i am not changing the newfound relationship that appears about halfway through this chapter. i had to put it in; i couldn't resist. sorry if you guys don't like it, but i have a feeling most of you will. and as for the medical thing that comes up, i kinda bs'd the whole thing, but i thought i should have an excuse for why that one person is the way they are, so if you don't like what i made up, then just ignore it 'cuz it's not really that important. so yep, i guess that's all i gots to say. hope y'alls like it, and REVIEW.**

**oh yea, i don't own mo, jo, or any of the other 6 people that jonathan larson came up with. i'm not that brilliant. but i do own any and all children of the characters, whether they be biological or adopted. **

The next morning I woke up to Maureen trying to get the VCR to work with the TV in my room. I watched her struggle with it for awhile before finally getting it. I wanted to get up and help her, but I didn't have the strength to. She turned around and smiled when she noticed that I was awake.

"Joey, you're awake! How are you feeling?" she asked me as she came and sat down next to me on my bed.

"I'm really tired still, but I was able to sleep through the night last night. How's Roxie? Is she doing better?"

"She's about the same as yesterday, but she looks more alive today. Do you remember what today is?"

"No, I'm sorry Mo, but I don't. I don't even remember what month it is."

"That's ok, Joey. But honestly, I never would have thought that you'd be the one to forget that it's our anniversary!" she said with a small laugh.

"Oh, ok." I was too tired to show her how excited I really was. I somehow found the energy to prop myself up in my bed and turn my attention to the VCR she had been fighting with earlier. "So is today movie day or something?"

"No, silly. We're watching the tape from our wedding, just like we do every year!"

"Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry. Well, turn it on." I made myself comfortable as Maureen got the tape started. Once it was all set up she came and sat down on my bed again and gave me a kiss on my forehead.

"Happy anniversary, Pookie."

I must have dozed off during the video, because when I woke up there was someone in the chair next to my bed that was not Maureen.

"MOMMA!" Grace shrieked in excitement as she flung herself at me. "Mommy told me not to wake you up so I drew you a picture while I waited." She handed me a piece of paper with a bunch of stick figures in dresses drawn on it. There were two figures in the middle, one drawn in yellow and the other in brown that I assumed were Maureen and I. At the bottom were four smaller figures that were drawn in pink, and next to them was an even smaller one with a circle around it.

"Thank you, Gracie. I love it." I pulled her closer to me and kissed her forehead. "Speaking of Mommy, where is she?"

"Um… I think she took Kelly to the bathroom. But look," she said, obviously more interested in her picture than answering my question. "… that's you and Mommy right there. And then me, Kelly, Sissy, and Maddie are right there. And that's Roxie in that corner. I almost forgot to draw her but then I remembered that you borned her a few days ago. I drew a circle around her because I didn't know how to draw the ingupator she's in because I wanted you to know what she looks like. Mommy said that you didn't get to see her yet because you're too sick." She stopped talking when she ran out of breath. I smiled at the small mistakes she made, and then quickly took that opportunity to talk.

"Thank you very much, honey. It's beautiful. When Mommy gets back I'll have her tape it up next to my bed." Just as I was giving her another kiss on her forehead, Maureen walked into the room with Kelly.

"Joey, you're awake! Gracie didn't bother you too much while we were gone, did she?" she asked as she gave me a quick kiss before sitting down and pulling Kelly up onto her lap. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm not as tired as I was earlier, but I'm still a little sore. My back is starting to hurt from being in bed for so long, but overall I'm feeling much better," I said as I adjusted myself into a comfortable sitting position.

"That's really good," she paused and readjusted Kelly, who had fallen asleep in her lap, "because I spoke with your doctor today while you were sleeping. He said that if you were feeling better then we could take you to go see Roxie after Mark and Roger come to get Grace and Kelly. Roxie's still in the NICU which means that you can't go in, but they took her out of the incubator and moved her next to the window."

"Wait, Mark and Roger? Did they go gay on us or something? What about Jess? I remember you saying something about Roger and Mimi breaking up, but aren't Mark and Jess still together?"

"Oh, sorry. You don't remember when Jess left a few weeks ago? No one knows why or where she went to; all her note said was that being a wife and a mother was too much work, so she just bailed. Roger had been staying with them after Mimi kicked him out, so when Jess left he helped Mark take care of Shontay, and, well, the next thing we knew, Roger had taken over Jess's place in bed. Personally, I always knew that they had the hots for each other, but I can't believe it took them this long to figure it out."

I just stared at her with my mouth open. Mark and Roger? Roger and Mark? "Woah. I _definitely_ did not see that coming."

"Yea, I don't think that Mimi did, either. She said that we must have rubbed off on them or something," she said as she turned and looked over me out the window. I could tell that there was something else that was bothering her.

"Hey, Maureen, you ok, baby?" When she turned back to look at me I thought that she was going to cry.

"It's just that, well, I've just been so scared that I'm going to lose you or Roxie. I worry about you both all the time and I just want you two at home with us so we can be a family again. God, I sound like such a child," she said as she wiped a tear from her face. "I just wish that the doctors could figure out what's wrong so you can both come home. Maddie and Isabelle keep asking for Momma and I don't know how to explain everything so that they'll understand."

"Oh, Honeybear," I said as I pulled her into a hug with a sleeping Kelly in between us. My eyes had started to water and I didn't want her to see me cry because everyone knew that Joanne Jefferson never cried.

"Mommies?" I turned my head and saw that Grace had abandoned her Barbies and was climbing up on my bed. "What's wrong?"

I took my arm off of Maureen's back and held it out, motioning for her to come over to us. "Nothing's wrong, honey. Mommy's just sad that Roxie and I can't come home yet."

"I'm really sad too. All the kids at school don't believe me when I talk about Roxie because you haven't gotten to bring her yet to show her. And I really want to show her to Maddie and Sissy so that they know that they have to be big sisters now." Oh great. Now she was starting to cry.

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into our little group hug, which now had Maureen crying into my shoulder and Kelly slowly waking up.

"October 28, 2006, 5pm, Eastern standard time. As we enter room 320 we see 4 members of the Johnson-Jefferson family embracing in what appears to be a family group hug."

"Jesus Christ, Mark. If you're going to bring that goddamn thing with you everywhere we go, must you narrate?" I turned and broke apart from the hug to see Mark enter the room with his beloved camera, followed by Roger and Shontay. As soon as Grace saw them, she was off the bed and running towards them in an instant. It took Kelly a little longer to figure out who they were, but once she was fully awake she wiggled out from between Maureen and I so that she could run at them.

"Uncle Mark!"

"Uncle Roger!"

Whenever the girls ambushed them they always went at Roger because they had heard all of Maureen's stories about what happens if you touch Mark's camera because apparently she had run into that predicament a few times back when they dated.

After Roger had hugged each of the girls and Mark had gotten a feeble 'hi' out of each of them (they were also afraid of him when he had the camera out), the girls went over to Shontay. They completely idolized her; she was like a big sister to them and she loved getting to watch them.

"Grace and Kelly Johnson-Jefferson go off with Shontay Cohen, soon to be Cohen-Davis, to go do whatever it is that girls do."

" 'Soon to be Cohen-Davis'? Is there something you two forgot to tell me?" Maureen had moved back over to her chair so I was able to cross my arms over my chest as I looked from Mark to Roger and raised my eyebrows. "Hmmm?"

"Well, um, you see…" Mark lowered his camera and began to look at the ground as he talked. I had successfully made him uncomfortable. "Roger, why don't you tell them?" he said as he looked over at Roger.

"What's there to tell? Jess left and I thought that Mark deserved better, so I decided to show him what better was. As for the Cohen-Davis thing, Mark and I are getting married and I'm going to adopt Shontay." As he finished he walked over to Mark and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Now, why Mark has to include that in his goddamn narration, I have no clue."

"Ok, Ok, that's great, but can you two get going with the girls now? I want to take Joey to go see Roxie before she gets too tired again." As Maureen said this she picked up the girls stuff and handed it to Roger as she ushered them out into the hallway. "Thanks again for taking them tonight. Tell them we love them and to be good. Call me if you need anything." I couldn't tell that she was excited. Not at all.

Maureen came back a few minutes later with a nurse who was pushing a wheelchair. The nurse unhooked me from my IV and then they both helped me into the wheelchair. I had never experienced as much abdominal pain as I did when I moved from the bed to the wheelchair. I tried not to show that moving hurt because I was afraid that they might not let me see Roxie if I did. Maureen was obviously excited; she was talking 50 words a minute about god knows what and once the nurse started to wheel me down the hall I swear she started skipping. After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally in front of the NICU, looking through the window at Roxie, our daughter.

"She's beautiful." Despite all of the tubes and monitors that she was hookup to, she really was beautiful.

"I know, Pookie," Maureen said as she kissed the top of my head. "She looks just like you."

I smiled as Maureen wrapped her arms around me from where she was standing behind me.

"Excuse me, are you two the parents of Roxie Johnson-Jefferson?" Maureen and I both turned and saw a doctor with a slightly thick folder standing a few feet away from us.

"Yes, we are," Maureen said. "Is there something wrong with Roxie?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you two for a few minutes in my office," she said as she pointed to a door on the other side of the hallway.

"Sure," Maureen said before looking down at me, a look of concern on her face.

We followed the doctor into her office and Maureen took a seat in the chair next to where she had parked my wheelchair.

"You probably don't remember me, but I'm Dr. Carlie Samal," she said as she shook each of our hands before sitting down in the chair behind her desk. She opened up the folder that she had been carrying and began to flip through it. "I was in the OR when Roxie was delivered, but everything was so hectic that I didn't get a chance to talk with you two. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about the results of some tests that we've been running on Roxie the past week. As you already know, her prematurity greatly increases her risk of having any developmental issues."

She paused for a minute and flipped through the papers she had taken out of the folder. Maureen looked over at me to see how I was doing and squeezed my hand in an attempt to reassure me. I returned the squeeze before refocusing my attention back on Dr. Samal, who had pulled a paper out of the folder.

"Now, most of Roxie's test results have come back fine, and she should be able to go home in a week or two if everything continues to go well. However," Maureen took my hand in her's as Dr. Samal turned the paper around and place it on the desk so that we could see it. "The results of her hearing tests are the only thing that concerns us. We have run the tests numerous times to verify the results, and every time we have gotten the same results: Roxie is 100 deaf in both ears. Our guess is that it's from her having no ear drums, which I'm guessing is because of her being so premature. Unfortunately there is nothing that we can do right now to improve her hearing, and hearing aids or a cochlear implant will be useless because they won't be able to replace her ear drums. The only thing that I can suggest is that you both start learning sign language now, so that you can begin to use it with Roxie as soon as possible. The sooner you start using it with her, the better. I'm going to refer you to an audiologist, but I doubt there's much they can help you with. If you have any questions while you're hear you can feel free to talk to any of our audiologists."

Maureen and I just sat there, emotionless. After all of the time we spent preparing for any complication to happen, this was the one thing that we had never thought would happen.

**so what did you guys think? i really want to know, and i better get some comments or i'm not continuing once i get chapter 8 finished. sorry if you guys didn't like what i did with mark and roger, but like i said, i had to and i couldn't resist. oh and my friend kelly is going to be writing this story from either mark or roger's pov, so i'll let you guys know when she starts that. i think it's gonna be pretty kick ass. i'm going to do a cross-over in the next chapter(i know, i usually hate crossovers) because i wanted to try it out. for right now i'm only doing it for one chapter, but if you guys like it i can make that specific crossover come up more often. so that is all i have to say and i am going to leave you guys with one word:**

**REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**yes, i finally have chapter 8 up. it took me so goddamn long to type it because i wrote too much, so you guys better like it. i can't promise chapter 9 is going to be up soon; i haven't finished writing it yet, and when it do it may be some time before it's typed because i have a lot of shit going on right now with school and life. so yea. you guys better fucking enjoy it. i'm not exactly in the greatest of moods right now, and i don't feel like writing the rest of the author's note that i had planned out about roxie's situation.**

**so anyways, here's chapter 8. it's a cross-over, and if you guys like it i can do more, but for now i'm just doing this chapter, 9, and maybe 10depending on how long i want ch. 9 to be as a cross-over, and it's all for this one scene. hopefully it won't take me too long to get those up.**

**AND REVIEW PLEASE! i'm serious when i say i live off of reviews- i update faster and have more inspiration to write when i get reviews. the more reviews the better. i've only had about 0.013 of people reading this story review, so if i don't start getting enough reviews i may just scrap the story because at this point i'm only writing it for you guys. i don't want to sound harsh, but that's the truth. i wanna know what you guys liked and/or didn't like and what you guys want to see happen. who knows, i may even include your suggestions in later chapters.**

**enjoy!**

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"Oh my God, Pookie! It's so pretty!" Maureen exclaimed as we pulled into the parking lot of the inn that we were staying in. "I'm so glad that Alexa and Amanda decided to have their wedding here. I wonder what the inside looks like…"

"Well, if you help me get the girls out then we can go inside and see." I put the car in park before getting out. I went around to the back of the car and got the double stroller for the twins. After I had them strapped into the stroller I picked up Roxie's snuggly and put it on. I took her out of her car seat and got her into the snuggly without waking her up. I cupped my hand around her small head and ran it over her soft, dark hair as I looked down at her head resting on my chest as she slept. Her skin was the darkest out of all of the girls, but she look exactly like Maureen. She didn't look like any of her sisters at all, and we could already tell from the texture and straightness of her hair that she wasn't going to have Maureen's curls.

"Mommy," Grace whined as she pulled on the hand that Maureen was holding onto her with, "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Ok, ok, just hold on a second. We're going to wait for Mama," Maureen replied.

"But I have to go _now_," she continued as she stomped her feet. She had been asleep when we arrived and was always grouchy when we woke her up after long car rides.

"It's ok," I said as I got my purse from the front seat and began to shut all of the doors. "I don't think I'll need you when I check us in, and it sounds like she needs to go pretty badly."

"Ok, then. We'll just meet you at the front desk when we're done. We shouldn't be too long unless Kelly decides that she has to go, too." She rolled her eyes before turning around and walking up the stairs and inside with Grace and Kelly.

Once I had managed to maneuver the stroller up the stairs and through the door, I began to head towards the front desk, but was stopped by a very attractive brunette before I got there.

"Looks like you've got your hands full there. Do you want some help?" she asked me as she put the papers she had been carrying on a table next to the door.

"That would be great, thanks," I replied as I smiled at her. The front desk wasn't that far away, but she seemed like she really wanted to help, so I let her take the stroller.

"So twins, huh? They must be a handful, especially with another one," she said, nodding her head towards Roxie.

"Yea, especially since she's not the only one," I said with a sigh. "I have two other daughters who are 3 and 5."

"Wow," she said as she parked the stroller in front of the desk before walking behind it. "So are you here for the wedding? I remember one family reserving two rooms because they had 6 kids or something."

"That's us, but it's only 5, thank God. I don't think I could handle another one." I propped my head up in my hand as I rested my elbow on the desk, careful not to smash Roxie. "I'm Joanne Jefferson."

"Oh, I remember you! You were the first one to make reservations online!" As she talked I began to look her over. She was wearing a light pink button up shirt untucked from her light gray pinstripe pants. Her brown hair was straight and tucked back behind her ears and she had piercing blue eyes that were nothing but astonishing. She looked at the computer as she typed something on the keyboard. She reached under the desk to what I assumed was the printer, and pulled out some papers and handed them to me. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore, the owner of the Dragonfly Inn. If there's anything that you need just let me know and I'll be happy to help. In fact, my daughter Rory is home from Yale right now and I'm sure she wouldn't mind watching your girls if you and your husband want to get away from the chaos for a little while," she said as she smiled.

"Actually, I don't have a husband; I'm a lesbian."

"Oh! That's right! I completely forgot about that. Well, you guys are the first lesbian couple to stay here at the Dragonfly, but I didn't expect you to have so many kids. Isn't that expensive?"

I was about to answer her, but got interrupted before I could.

"Momma! Grace said that my nose is fat and ugly!" I turned and saw Kelly running towards me as she signed and semi-yelled her complaint about Grace.

"Kelly, not so loud. There are other people here," I said and signed back.

"But she said that my nose is ugly!" She was whining and stomping and I could tell that she was tired.

"Kelly, I'm busy right now," I told her. "Wait a minute… where's Mommy?"

"She's still in the bathroom with Grace," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Just then I saw Maureen walking towards us with Grace. I put my forehead back in my hand as I propped my elbow up on the desk.

"Hey Joanne, can we start unloading our stuff? My make-up is going to melt," Maureen said as she picked up Kelly and held her against her hip.

"Mommy you forgot to sign that," Kelly pointed out to her.

"Whatever."

"Why does she have to sign it? Is she trying out for a new Helen Keller movie or something?" Lorelai asked with a small laugh.

"Our baby's deaf," I said, my head still resting in my palm. Why was I the only one ever capable of being mature?

"Oh, I'm sorry." She sounded like she really felt bad for what she said.

"Momma said that we have to sign when we talk to that we can learn how to talk to Rosie," Grace said as she held the edge of the desk and stood on her tiptoes to see Lorelai. "Actually, her real name's Roxana, but then we called her Roxie, and now Mommy and Momma call her Rose because that's easier to sign, but I call her Rosie just like Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie." Yep. We definitely had a mini-Maureen on our hands.

I stood up and readjusted the straps on the snuggly. As I finished doing that, Rose began to wake up. I prayed she'd go back to sleep, but of course she woke up. That's how everything always is in my life.

"Maureen, I'm going to take her up to our room so that I can feed her. Can you handle the girls?" Finally, a chance to get some time to myself.

"Sure, Jo. I think I'm just gonna take them for a walk or something. Do you want me to get her stuff out of the car?"

"That would be great, Mo."

A few minutes later Maureen came back in with Grace and Kelly who had gone out to help her.

"Here you go Joey. We're just gonna go for a walk around the town; we shouldn't be too long;" Maureen said before kissing me on the lips.

Lorelai helped me carry Rose's stuff up to our room because it was hard for me to carry both the portable crib and diaper bag along with Rose. Once I got into our room I took Rose out of the snuggly and placed her in the middle of our king size bed so that I could set up her crib. While I was setting it up she began to cry.

I finished setting up the crib and then went over and sat down on the bed next to her. As I unbuttoned my shirt I looked down at her and smiled. She had stopped crying as soon as I sat down, and now she was making gurgling noises and smiling at me. I smiled back at her again as I picked her up and brought her to my chest. She latched onto my nipple quickly and began biting it, which wasn't something that bothered me at this point. Most mothers have a problem with their baby biting them, but I'd been with Maureen long enough to be used to it. Maureen was probably the biggest biter I had ever been with, but I think that aggressiveness was what attracted me to her, and her obsession with my nipples was kind of cute, in a weird Maureen way. I can't remember the last time that I didn't have someone's mouth on my nipples; if it wasn't a baby then it was Maureen. I was also beginning to think that Maureen had been a little jealous of Kelly after she was born and was somewhat jealous of Rose right now because they're the reason she's been forced into nipple withdrawal. Well, there was that one night about a month after Kelly was born that she decided to go for the nipples. The expression on her face that night was priceless, but then I had to listen to her complain about how disgusting breast milk tasted for almost a week.

I looked back down at Rose and just thought about how innocent she was. Even though she was our fifth child, it was still hard to believe that this little thing depended on Maureen and I to keep her alive. As I was wondering about how Maureen and I could make something that was just so beautiful, I heard someone unlock and open the door.

"Joanne?" I heard someone call as they entered the room. A few seconds later Maureen walked around the corner. "You feeling ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine. Just a little tired from the drive. Where are the girls?"

"Well, as I was walking out the door I ran into the cook, I think her name's Sookie or something, and she got all excited over how cute the girls were. While we were standing there talking about our kids and her's, Lorelai's daughter Rory showed up and Sookie thought it would be a great idea for her to watch the girls so that I could take a break, so I let Rory take them out for a walk."

"So you just let some random girl that we don't know take our children on a walk around a town that we've never been to before?" I asked her as I made room for her next to me on the bed.

"Pookie, she goes to Yale. How can you not trust someone who goes to Yale?" she asked me as she sat down. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder so she could look down at Rose. "Unless this is some Harvard-Yale rivalry thing, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't like her." She tilted her head up and kissed my cheek before focusing her attention back to Rose. "She's so beautiful," she said as she placed her right hand on Rose's head. "Just like us."

"I know Honeybear. I know."

Our little mother-daughter-mother moment didn't last too much longer, though, because out of nowhere I heard somebody storm up the stairs and start banging on our door.

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**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**hey guys...**

**i am SO SORRY it took me so long to get this chapter up. my life has been extremely hectic, and school has been a bitch. but, here it is. i'm sorry to say that this is the last chapter to this story... but wait... what is that my brain is telling me? i'm writing another one? OH YEA! that's right! i'm a writing a sequel to the sequel :-) i feel like this one's a little rushed near the end, but i was getting amazing ideas for the third installment of the story, and i needed to start writing that before i forgot it and i can't write another story if i don't have the one before it done.**

**so here it is. the ninth and final chapter of A Rose By Any Other Name.**

**don't forget to review :-D**

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"Where the FUCK is Stacy?" Maureen jumped a little, surprised by the screaming the second she opened the door.

"Alexa, Alexa, calm down; everything's gonna be alright," Maureen said calmly as she stepped back from the door to where I could see her again. I heard the door shut as Alexa walked into the room.

"Hey Alexa," I said while buttoning my shirt. I picked up Rose and place her on my shoulder as I stood up and walked over to where Maureen was standing. "What's wrong?"

"WHAT'S WRONG? Stacy decided to just bail on me at the last minute so that she could go visit her sister! That BITCH!"

"Alexa! Calm down! Stacy's sister just had a baby; she didn't really have a choice, ok?" I stopped for a minute so I could put Rose down in her bed. "I called Sharayah this morning, and she's going to be here tonight so we can alter Stacy's dress to fit her.

"Ugh." She paused for a minute. "Ok. Fine. Whatever." And with that she left the room.

"So…" Maureen said as she walked over to me and slid her hands in the back pockets of my jeans. "Now that she's gone, what do you want to do?" She looked at me and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Let me think about that for a minute," I said as the corners of my lips formed themselves into a grin. "What do _you_ want to do?"

She slid her hands out of my pockets and placed them on my lower back, pulling me up against her. I could feel her warm breath on my lips as she looked into my eyes.

"I guess I'll have to show you."

She pressed her lips against mine and began to walk me backwards. I sat down on the edge of the bed and she sat in my lap, straddling me before bringing her hands up to my shoulders.

She broke apart from the kiss and looked into my eyes. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. It was still so hard for me to believe that we were still together; I never would have guessed we'd be able to stand each other this long.

"I love you," I said as she slid off of my lap.

"I love you more," she said, bending down to get something out of her suitcase. "Jo, do you know where I put my purple jacket?"

"Uh, no. You can just borrow mine because we need to get going now, actually. We're supposed to meet Sharayah at noon, and it's already 11:40." I picked up my jacket off the bed and tossed it to her as I got up to get Rose. After I got her situated in her snuggly I headed towards the door, slapping Maureen's ass on the way.

"Hey!"

"What? You know you liked it." I turned around and flashed her a mischievious grin. "I'm going to head down to the restaurant and wait for Shar; don't take too long."

I made my way into the hallway and down the stairs. Sharayah walked into the inn right as I made it to the bottom.

"Hey!" she said as she walked up to me and enveloped Rose and I in a hug. As she stepped back from the hug she looked around. "Where's Maureen?"

"Oh, she's still upstairs getting ready. You know how she has to look perfect for everything." As I folded my arms across my chest I heard Maureen close the door to our room and walk down the hallway.

"Sharayah!" she squealed as she bolted down the stairs past me to get to Sharayah. They used to be best friends back when Maureen's family lived in Colorado, and they hadn't seen each other since Kelly was a baby.

"Oh my god Maureen! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you? Where are the girls! I'm anxious to see the twins!"

"The girls are out on a walk, we figured it would be easier to catch up without them here."

"That sounds like a good idea," she said. As we walked into the dining room Sharayah came over to me and cupped her hand around Rose's head. "And who's this little cutie pie?"

"That's Roxana Rose Johnson-Jefferson," Maureen said with a huge smile on her. "We call her Rose, though." As she took her hand off of her head, Rose looked up at Sharayah with her big brown eyes.

"That's such a pretty name. She's so adorable; she looks so looks so different from the pictures you've sent me of her sisters, she has your pointy nose and Joanne's dark skin."

About an hour later we were taking a walk around town when we ran into Rory and the girls.

"Mommy!" Grace squealed as she ran to us and jumped into Maureen's arms. "Hi Momma," she said as she looked over at me, a big smile on her face.

"Hi Gracie. Hi Maddie, hi Isabelle," I said while bending down to their level to look at them. "And you must Rory." I stood up and stuck my hand out, only to pull it back when I realized that she was holding a sleeping Kelly with both of her hands. I noticed that she had shoulder length brown hair and piercing blue eyes, just like her mother. "I'm Joanne."

"Hi, Joanne! I hate to have to run off so fast, but I really need to get home and clean before my grandparents come over." She handed Kelly over to me and began to walk away. "It was nice meeting you, I had a lot of fun watching your girls! Hopefully I'll see you around soon!" she said before turning around and running off.

"Hey Mo, we gotta get going; the rehearsal dinner's in a few hours." And with that we turned around and headed back to the inn.

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**please review!!! i'm going to try and get the third part up today, and i'll put all the chapters i've written so far up today if i get lots of reviews!!!**


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